Rollable retriever for golf balls and the like



Jan. 4, 1966 J. c. SHOEMAKER 3,227,298

ROLLABLE RETRIEVER FOR GOLF BALLS AND THE LIKE Filed Jan. 24, 1964United States Patent 3,227,298 ROLLABLE RETRIEVERFOR GOLF BALLS I ANDTHE LIKE James C. Shoemaker, 4301 Tullocks Woods Trail, Rockford, Ill.

.Filed Jan. 24, 1964, Ser, No. 340,010 3 Claims. (Cl. 214--356) ',thecage over them, the peripheral wall of the cage being defined by aseries of spaced parallel flights of a nyloncovered wire cable threadedback and forth betweenthe peripheral portions of two disks of equaldiameter mounted on opposite ends of a spacer sleeve, the spacing of thewires being slightly less' than the diameter of the balls so that theballs spring the wires apart just enough to get inside the cage, fromwhich they cannot drop out but may thereafter be dumped either throughan opening in one of the; disks that is normally closed, or by releasingthe tension in one flightto provide a larger peripheral opening throughwhich to dump the balls.

The two disks, which are'herein shown as made of stamped sheet metalhaving a certain amount of resilience needed to insure keeping the wiresunder enough tension, but may be molded of plastiematerial for economyof manufacture and less weight, have anti-friction bearings mounted, intheir central hub portions for easy turning of the cage on the axle andalso have spring metal washers fitting over these hubsinside the cage inabutment with the opposite ends of a spacer tube adapted to be sprunginwardly with the disks when the cageassernbly is mounted in a jig andthe peripheral portions of the two disks are forced-toward each other toa predetermined loading during .the threading of the wire cable back andforth through holes in the peripheral portions of these disks, one knotbeing made on one end of the cable outside one disk and another knotbeing made near the other end inside the other" disk to hold thetension, the last mentioned end being extended from the last mentionedknot through a hole in the other disk and being detachably connected bymeans of"a hook with the protruding end portion of the axle, so that itis a simple matter to open up the periphery of the cage for dumping ofthe balls and just as simple to close the opening again for further useof the device.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing in which:

FIGS. 1 and 2 are a side view and rear view, respec-, tively, of arollable retriever for golf balls andthe like made in accordance with myinvention;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view which serves to better illustrate the modeof operation of the device, and

FIG. 4 is a sectional detail on the line 4-4 of FIG. 1, showing theparts substantially full size.

The same reference numerals are applied to corresponding parts in allthese views.

Referring to the drawing, a tubular metal handle 5 has a generallyU-shaped lower end portion 6, one leg 7 of which serves as a horizontalaxle for the squirrel cage, indicate-d generally by the referencenumeral 8, that is adapted to be rolled on the ground 9 by means of thehandle to pick up golf balls G lying in the path of the cage, as forexample, on a fairway in front of apractice golf tee. The cage 8comprises two disks 10 and 11 that are held in spaced coaxialrelationship by means of a sleeve 12 and have a nylon-covered wire cable.13 threaded back and forth in zig-zag fashion through registering3,227,298 Patented Jan. 4, 1966 holes 14 provided near the flangedperipheries 15 of the disks, the latter serving as wheel treads. In thatway I provide by the back and forth flights of cable a series of evenlyspaced parallel members or wires 16 defining the peripheral wall of thecage, the spacing of these wires being slightly less than the diameterof the golf balls so that when the cage is rolled over a ball, the ballspreads the neighboring members or wires 16 apart enough as shown at Xin FIG. 3 to get inside the cage, and, once inside, the balls areretained and cannot drop out even though enough balls are picked up tonearly fill the cage. To empty the cage, one or both disks may beprovided with an opening, as indicated in dotted lines at 17 in FIG. '1closed by means of a door 18 hinged at 19 and arranged to be locked inclosed position by means of a turn-type fastener 20. However, I preferto have the nylon-covered wire cable 13 provided with a knot 21 at oneend outside the disk 10 and another knot 22 inside the disk 11 near theother end of the cable, leaving just enough cable beyond the knot 22 tocover the last flight 23 and provide a radial extension 24 to a hook 25,which, when the flight 23 is properlytensioned, can hook over theprotruding end portion of the axle 7, as seen in FIGS. 1 and 2, tomaintain the tension on this last flight 23 until such time as the cageis to be opened at this point for dumping out the golf balls that havebeen retrieved, when, of course, it is a simple matter to disconnect thehook 25 from the axle 7 and define a large outlet opening at 23 for this5 purpose.

The operation of the retriever should be clear from the foregoingdescription. It picks up all balls in its path when the cage 8 is rolledin either a forward or rearward direction. There is no possibility ofdamageto the balls in this retrieving operation nor in the subsequentdumping operation. Also, there is nothing involved in the constructionand operation of the device to give any trouble for the user. The deviceshould last indefinitely with ordinary usage.

In assembling the cage 8, the two disks 10 and 11, which are hereinshown as sheet metal stampings but, as stated before, may be molded ofplastic material for lower cost and less weight, are mounted in a jigand centered in axial relationship to one another by means of theiranti-friction bearings 26 which are pressed into their central hubportions 27. The inner races of these bearings 26 may be pressed ontothe axle 7 so as to eliminate any extra parts that would otherwise benecessary. Spring washers 28 are assembled over the hubs 27 in abutmentwith the ends of the spacer sleeve 12, and the peripheral portions ofthe two disks 10 and 11 are flexed inwardly toward each other under apredetermined pressure and held under such pressure during the threadingof the nylon-covered wire cable 13 back and forth between the two disks,whereby, at the end of the assembling operation, the knots 21 and 22previously mentioned maintain the tension, assuming the wire cable 13has been pulled up tight enough at each step of the threading operation.Then the disks 10 and 11, by reason of their inherent springiness,supplemented by the spring loading of washers 28, serve to maintain thistension throughout the life of the device, the washers 28 supplying justenough additional spring action to make certain that the tension on thecable 13 will never be relaxed enough to interfere with the properfunctioning of the device.

It is believed the foregoing description conveys a good understanding ofthe objects and advantages of my invention. The appended claims havebeen drawn to cover all legitimate modifications and adaptations.

I claim:

1. In a device for picking up round articles, such as golf balls. arollable cylindrical cage comprising a pair of spaced upright coaxiallydisposed disks forming the side walls of said cage, and resilientslender horizontal cross-members forming the peripheral wall of the cagecarried on the peripheral portions of said disks and disposed in evenlyspaced parallel relation around the entire peripheries thereof, thespacing of said members being slightly less than the diameter of theround articles to be picked up, whereby the articles can be picked up byrolling the cage over them, the articles rolled over by the cagespreading said members to pass therebetween into the cage to be retainedtherein, and means for rolling said cage, the cross-members being alldefined by one length of slender flexible resilient material threadedtightly back and forth between said disks in zig-zag fashion throughholes provided in the peripheral portions thereof, there being a knotoutside one disk made in the one end of said material at a hole at thestart of the threading and another knot near the other end of saidmaterial inside the other disk to maintain all of the material undertension, the last named end of the material extending from the lastnamed knot through a hole in the opposite disk and having meansconnected with the outer end thereof for applying tension to orreleasing tension from this end portion of the material.

2. In a device for picking up round articles, such as golf balls, arollable cylindrical cage comprising a pair of spaced upright coaxiallydisposed disks forming the side walls of said cage, and resilientslender horizontal crossmembers forming the peripheral wall of the cagecarried on the peripheral portions of said disks and disposed in evenlyspaced parallel relation around the entire peripheries thereof, thespacing of said members being slightly less than the diameter of theround articles to be picked up, whereby the articles can be picked up byrolling the cage over them, the articles rolled over by the cagespreading said members to pass therebetween into the cage to be retainedtherein, and means for rolling said cage, the last mentioned meanscomprising a handle having a horizontal axle on the lower end thereof onwhich said cage is rotatably mounted, said cage including a spacersleeve extending lengthwise thereof between the central portions of thedisks and surrounding said axle, said disks being of flexible resilientmaterial and having their peripheral portions flexed toward one anotherwhen the members 4 which connect these portions are assembled thereon,whereby to maintain said members under tension by the spring-backinherent in said disks, and said device including spring washers betweenthe ends of said sleeve and said disks which in the spring loading ofsaid disks are also loaded to supplement the spring pressure active forthe tensioning of said members.

3. In a device for picking up round articles, such as golf balls, arollable cylindrical cage comprising a pair of spaced upright coaxiallydisposed disks forming the side walls of said cage, and resilientslender horizontal cross-members forming the peripheral wall of the cagecarried on the peripheral portions of said disks and disposed in evenlyspaced parallel relation around the entire peripheries thereof, thespacing of said members being slightly less than the diameter of theround articles to be picked up, whereby the articles can be picked up byrolling the cage over them, the articles rolled over by' the cagespreading said members to pass therebetween into the cage to be retainedtherein, and means for rolling said cage, said cage including a spacersleevc extending lengthwise thereof between the central portions of thedisks, said disks being of flexible resilient material and having theirperipheral portions flexed toward one another when the members whichconnect these portions are assembled thereon, whereby to maintain saidmembers under tension by the spring-back inherent in said disks, andsaid device including spring washers between the ends of said sleeve andsaid disks which in the spring loading of said disks are also loaded tosupplement the spring pressure active for the tensioning of saidmembers.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 771,886 10/1904Smith. 2,718,745 9/1955 Scafidi 294-19 X FOREIGN PATENTS 1,388 1/1902Great Britain. 469,482 7/1937 Great Britain.

GERALD M. FORLENZA, Primary Examiner.

SAMUEL F. COLEMAN, Examiner.

1. IN A DEVICE FOR PICKING UP ROUND ARTICLES, SUCH AS GOLF BALLS, AROLLABLE CYLINDRICAL CAGE COMPRISING A PAIR OF SPACED UPRIGHT COAXIALLYDISPOSED DISKS FORMING THE SIDE WALLS OF SAID CAGE, AND RESILIENTSLENDER HORIZONTAL CROSS-MEMBERS FORMING THE PERIPHERAL WALL OF THE CAGECARRIED ON THE PERIPHERAL PORTIONS OF SAID DISKS AND DISPOSED IN EVENLYSPACED PARALLEL RELATION AROUND THE ENTIRE PERIPHERIES THEREOF, THESPACING OF SAID MEMBER BEING SLIGHTLY LESS THAN THE DIAMETER OF THEROUND ARTICLES TO BE PICKED UP, WHEREBY THE ARTICLES CAN BE PICKED UP BYROLLING THE CAGE OVER THEM, THE ARTICLES ROLLED OVER BY THE CAGESPREADING SAID MEMBERS TO PASS THEREBETWEEN INTO THE CAGE TO BE RETAINEDTHEREIN, AND MEANS FOR ROLLING SAID CAGE, THE CROSS-MEMBERS BEING ALLDEFINED BY ONE LENGTH OF SLENDER FLEXIBLE RESILIENT MATERIAL THREADEDTIGHTLY BACK AND FORTH BETWEEN SAID DISKS IN ZIG-ZAG FASHION THROUGHHOLES PROVIDED IN THE PERIPHERAL PORTIONS THEREOF, THERE BEING A KNOTOUTSIDE ONE DISK MADE IN THE ONE END OF SAID MATERIAL AT A HOLE AT THESTART OF THE THREADING AND ANOTHER KNOT NEAR THE OTHER END OF SAIDMATERIAL INSIDE THE OTHER DISK TO MAINTAIN ALL OF THE MATERIAL UNDERTENSION, THE LAST NAMED END OF THE MATERIAL EXTENDING FROM THE LASTNAMED KNOT THROUGH A HOLE IN THE OPPOSITE DISK AND HAVING MEANSCONNECTED WITH THE OUTER END THEREOF FOR APPLYING TENSION TO ORRELEASING TENSION FROM THIS END PORTION OF THE MATERIAL.